I wanted to talk about the value that we bring to the table and really understand that as c-level executives, salespeople and anyone else out there listening, the value we bring to a client is tremendous.
This story articulates that and I want to read it quickly: Nikola Tesla visited Henry Ford at his factory, which was having some difficulty. Ford asked Tesla if he could help him identify the problem area. Tesla walked up to a wall of boilerplates and made a small X in the chalk on one of the plates. Ford was thrilled and told him to send him an invoice. The bill arrived for $10,000. Ford asked for a breakdown, as I think anybody would. Tesla sent another invoice indicating a $1 charge for marking the wall with an X and $9,999 for knowing where to put it.
It’s a great story. Don’t discount the value you’re bringing to anybody. It’s tremendous and I am sure you are undervaluing yourself, your services, your fees. If you want to talk about it, I’m here to discuss. If you don’t, think about your value and think about what you’re going to do to not only increase the value that you give clients, but how you charge for that. The theme is really: raise your fees and raise your prices if you determine that the value is really there. That’s it. As I say every day always, Think Big!